Having written for magazines for years, I embarked upon this book thinking I knew how long it would take. Boy was I wrong, and if it weren’t for so many people, there’s no way I would be sleeping even today. To everyone mentioned below and all of my family, friends, and colleagues, I am eternally grateful.
To my assistants, Stephanie Farrell and Danielle Boulé, who are more like culinary angels than assistants. They’re both ultimate pros, who never lost their smiles or enthusiasm . . . even while picking, sorting, weighing, and counting each individual piece of topping off pizza after pizza after pizza.
To my sister-in-law, Jenny Alder, who introduced me to Ben Roter at Rodale. And to Ben, who then introduced me to his most incredibly professional and talented team. The entire Rodale clan has truly been such a joy. To editors Margot Schupf, Shea Zukowski, and Miriam Backes (and the little “kickboxer” in Miriam’s tummy), who contributed brilliant idea after brilliant idea and were always available to collaborate. To test-kitchen wizard Jo Ann Brader, who has more food solutions than anyone I’ve ever met. To recipe editor Sharon Sanders, who dedicated weekend after weekend to simplifying my renditions, so that others could undoubtedly re-create them. To publicists Cathy Gruhn and Meghan Phillips, who spent more time and energy brainstorming and meeting with me in the first few months after acquisition than most publicists (from what I’ve heard) spend even through the launch. To designer Carol Angstadt, who, along with Shea, made the cover shoot a blast. To Steve Murphy, who is clearly the glue of the company and is revered like no other. And did I mention that they’re all really fun people who I can’t wait to work with again? (I’m serious; they’re the best!)
To Jessica Guff and Lauren Lexton, who independently thought that I should compile and expand upon the makeovers I’d been doing in magazines to create this book. And to Jessica, for instantly believing in me enough to put me on Good Morning America.
To the whole team at Muscle & Fitness and American Media Inc., who gave me a forum for my “Recipe Dr.” column, which eventually inspired this book.
To recipe testers Danielle Boulé, Stephanie Farrell, and Gail Gillman, who pitched in countless hours and brainpower.
To photographer Ben Fink and makeup artist Linda Lockwood, who are really cool people (and not only because they made me look good).
To Jamie Nehasil, who let me overtake his bachelor kitchen in Nashville to create and test many of the regional recipes. And to his colleagues at Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group who helped equip his kitchen.
To the folks at Cuisinart (food processor) and KitchenAid (electric mixer) who generously provided me with the absolute best equipment available. And to the folks at Zojirushi who enabled me to crank out Cinnabons in no time using their Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine (it’s one of the few that has a 2-pound capacity and a sweet dough setting).
To fellow writer and friend Shanti Sosienski, who conceived the title and rescued the book from being called Big Girls Don’t Fry or Home Is Where the Hamburger Is. (I wasn’t really going to use those titles, but you get the point.)
To my parents, Benjamin and Toni Simone, who taught me I could do anything . . . and more. To my sister, Leslie Simone, and my godmother, Florence Putnam, who are (and have always been) my biggest cheerleaders. And to everyone else in my family—I’m so blessed.
To all of my friends for supporting me through the process, even when I was ranting about the number of menu items that changed. And a special thanks to those who contributed their brains (to help select recipes), their taste buds, and/or their cooking abilities to retest the recipes: Alana Burton, Christina Calandra, Tony Dimond, Jim Eber, Steve Farrell, Gail Gillman, Alexandra Gudmundsson, Eric Hammarlund, Heather Haque, Tas Haque, Julie Jaynes, Leigh Klein, Grace Kung, Lauren Lexton, Michelle Miller, Chris Nielsen, Jeff O’Connell, Kristine Oller, Becky Postmus, Helene Pretsky, Erik Runnels, Lara Scatamacchia, Scott Sherman, Rita and Josh Sostrin, Tucker Taylor, Rochelle Travers, Jerry Whitworth, Cara Williams, Tiffany Wong, and Chuck Young.
And last but not least, to Brian Taylor, who provided the much-needed (and treasured) distraction and support throughout the process of writing this book.